NIGERIA's commercial capital, Lagos, and several States were placed under curfew on Wednesday following a day of violence triggered by the shooting of civilians by soldiers at the Lekki Tollgate.
Many public and some privately-owned facilities were razed down to ashes across Lagos around Orile, Oyingbo, Igando, Ilasamaja, Mushin and Ikosi Ketu, and residents kept reporting about gunfire sounds despite President Muhammadu Buhari's appeal for understanding and calm, and Vice President Yemi Osibajo's apology.
Soldiers tried to disperse protesting crowds especially in Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Alimosho with armed policemen who attempted to enforce a round-the-clock curfew in the commercial capital, setting up checkpoints. But groups of young men barricaded a number of major roads with overturned traffic signs, tree branches and rocks. Smoke billowed from buildings that were set ablaze.
Igando Police Station, razed down to ashes on Wednesday.
The Nation Newspapers set ablaze on Wednesday on Fatai Atere Road Ladipo, Mushin, Lagos.
Rights group Amnesty International said the Nigerian army and police killed at least 12 peaceful protesters at two locations in Lagos - Lekki and Alausa - on Tuesday.
At least 56 people have allegedly died across Nigeria since the nationwide protests began on Oct. 8, with about 38 killed on Tuesday alone, Amnesty said.
Thousands of Nigerians, many driven closer to poverty by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, have joined the protests that initially focused on a police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, however, addressed the State after visiting victims at various hospitals, saying, "it is imperative to explain that no sitting governor controls the rules of engagement of the army. I have nevertheless instructed an investigation into the ordered and the adopted rules of engagement employed by the officers and men of the Nigerian Army deployed to the Lekki Toll Gate yesterday."
Sanwo-Olu assured that the Lekki incidence is being taken up with the high command of the Nigerian Army and the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari in his capacity as the Commander-in-Chief, to unravel the sequence of events that happened on Tuesday.
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#EndSARS: I Haven’t Spoken to President Buhari Since Lekki Shootings, Lagos Governor Says
October 22, 2020
#EndSARS: I Haven’t Spoken to President Buhari Since Lekki Shootings, Lagos Governor Says
Gov. Sanwo-Olu
SANWO OLU SPEAKS TO ARISE.mp4
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The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu says he has not spoken to Nigeria’s President Muhammad Buhari two days after soldiers opened fire on peaceful protesters at Lekki Toll Gate on Tuesday night.
President Buhari, who has said little about the protests engulfing the country, did not mention the Lekki shootings or the unrest that followed the next day, but issued a call for calm and vowed police reforms on Wednesday. There have been calls for him to address the nation in the wake of the massacre.
“I made phone calls to the President twice on Wednesday,” Governor Sanwo-olu said. “I haven’t spoken to him directly but I actually did call to speak to him. Maybe some time today, that might happen.”
Amnesty said it has received reports that shortly before the shootings, CCTV security cameras at the Lekki toll gates, where protesters had been camped for two weeks, were removed by government officials and electricity was cut to prevent evidence emerging of the violence. The report backs up footage and images on social media that showed violence against protesters in pitch darkness.
Speaking with Arise TV, Sanwo-Olu insisted this morning that he did not give the order to turn off CCTV and lights at the scene.
“Nobody ordered the removal of cameras at the Lekki tollgate. The MD of LCC said because of the curfew, they made the decision to take out installations. The cameras you saw are not security or motion cameras, they are laser cameras for vehicles.”
He added that the company in charge of electricity at the toll gate “put out the lights because of the curfew that the state government put in place.”
“There’s no communication that would reflect that we influenced them. That was a decision that a corporate organisation took and said that because of the curfew, they are taking down their LED screen from the toll plaza.”
Sanwo-olu said he would continue to work with security operatives to restore law and order in the State.
